Puget Football Association
The Puget Football Association, also known as the PFA, is the governing body of association football in Puget. It was formed in 1856, and is the oldest national football association. The PFA is based at the PFA Center overlooking the national stadium, the Dawson Bowl, in downtown Dawson. It is responsible for overseeing all aspects of football in Puget, both professional and amateur. The PFA sanctions all competitive football matches in Puget directly. It runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the annual Puget Cup. It is also responsible for appointing the management of the men's national football team. The PFA is a member of both the UCOM Football Federation and AIFF. All of Puget's professional football teams are members of the Puget Football Association. The PFA is responsible for the appointment of the management of the Puget national football team and the organization of the Puget Cup. Although it does not run the day-to-day operations of the country's top league, the Puget Premier League, it has veto power over the appointment of the League Chairman and Chief Executive and over any changes to league rules. The PFA directly governs all other leagues in the Puget football league system, including the PFA Championship (second tier), PFA Island League (third tier), PFA Premier Development League (fourth tier), PFA Coastal League (fifth tier), and the PFA Interior League (fifth tier). The PFA also governs the two women's leagues, the PFA Women's League and PFA Amateur Women's League. The PFA owns and runs both the Dawson Bowl and the under-construction National Football Center, scheduled for completion in late 2011. The PFA is scheduled to launch its own set of television stations, the Puget Football Network (PFN) and PFN2, in August 2011 to broadcast all football games, except the Premier League and games on DSN. The acting president of the PFA is currently Prime Minister Bruce Englehardt II and will be replaced when a new Minister of Sports is appointed by the Parliment. History Origins For centuries before the first meeting of the Puget Football Association at the Morgan Street Tavern in Dawson in 1856, there were no universally accepted rules for playing football. In schools, the game was formalized according to local conditions; but when the schoolboys reached university, chaos ensued when the players used different rules, so members of the University of Dawson devised and published a set of Dawson Rules in 1845 which was widely adopted. The PFA was founded by Charles Williamson, who was the person to suggest the Dawson Rules in 1845 while an undergraduate. He also masterminded the creation of the Puget Cup, the longest-running association football competition in the world, in 1860 and the formation of the PFA League, later the Puget Premier League in 1862. The first Puget Cup final was held at the Riverside Ground on March 13, 1860, watched by 4,500 spectators, including King William II. This competition was initially contested by mostly amateur teams but by the end of the 19th century it was dominated by professional teams that were mostly members of the PFA League. 20th century In 1902, the Puget Football Association merged with the Puget Islands Football Association before being suspended by King Peter I for supporting the growing rebel cause. The PFA was re-instated after the new government was in place in 1912 and began holding the Puget Cup final on May 13, known as Independence Day. Recent events AIFF Facilities Finances Competitions Presidents Professional leagues See also Category:Puget Category:Football in Puget